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Walter Reed commanders admit responsibility

Posted: Tuesday, March 06, 2007

WASHINGTON - Flayed by lawmakers' criticism, Army leaders said Monday they accept responsibility for substandard conditions at the service's flagship Walter Reed Army Medical Center, but also said they hadn't known about most of the problems.

Democrats and Republicans alike suggested the failings go far beyond the one hospital for wounded soldiers in Washington, and they demanded action. Military leaders - and Vice President Dick Cheney - promised they'd get it. "We can't fail one of these soldiers or their families, not one. And we did," said Maj. Gen. George W. Weightman, who was in charge of Walter Reed from August 2006 until he was fired last week. He added, "We did not fully recognize the frustrating bureaucratic and administrative processes some of these soldiers go through. We should have, and in this, I failed."

Weightman's comments were echoed by other top Army officials at an emotional House hearing held at the hospital itself as Congress began digging into the controversy.

In a session that mixed contrition and clashes, lawmakers said dilapidated housing and excessive red tape were problems beyond Walter Reed, underscoring how recent revelations about the hospital have become a metaphor for broader concerns about the government's treatment of soldiers returning from wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"I'm afraid this is just the tip of the iceberg, that when we got out into the field we may find more of this," said Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va., a member of the House Oversight and Government Reform subcommittee that held the session.